by Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY Sports

by Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY Sports

BALTIMORE â?? After deciding to enter their horse in the Preakness, owners Steven Brandt and Ric Boylan got to talking over dinner about the possibility their trainer, Linda Rice, might make racing history. Then they wondered: Might they share a first, too, and perhaps a "Michael Sam moment.''

"We thought, 'Wow, it would be great for Linda to be the first woman (trainer) to win a Triple Crown (race)," Brandt said before this week's annual Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course, where he and Boylan were introduced as owners of Kid Cruz, a 20-1 shot in the morning line.

"And he (Boylan) said, 'Well, you know, we might be, I don't know that we are, but it's quite possible we could the first married gay couple to win a Triple Crown (race) or to even be in one.'

"Of course, you don't know who's in other partnerships that race. But we kind of were thinking, 'Wow, that would be kind of nice.' "

Brandt, 56, and Boylan, 57, who live in St. Pete Beach, Fla., are partners in Vina Del Mar Thoroughbreds, a small stable. They married in Washington, D.C., in 2010 after a long relationship.

They'll be rooting for their horse today.

"We were laughing. â?¦ I hope we get a Michael Sam moment," said Brandt.

Sam, who last week became the first openly gay college football player to be selected in the NFL draft, kissed his boyfriend on national television after he was chosen by the St. Louis Rams.

Brandt said he is well aware that amidst support for Sam there was some backlash.

"I have not experienced any issues in the Thoroughbred business, but you see what happens (with) the video of Michael Sam and his boyfriend celebrating after the draft pick,'' said Brandt.

"I thought. 'Well, I don't know what I'm going to do if we win. I might kiss him, and the cameras will be there, and we'll have our own Michael Sam moment. I can only hope.' "

Several things had to fall into place for Kid Cruz to be in a Triple Crown race at all, including the connection with Rice as a trainer and the purchase of the horse last November â?? an investment that got a blessing from Brandt's late mother, Shirley. She passed away Jan. 30 at age 77.

Brandt grew up in Frederick, Md., not far from the horse track in Charles Town, W. Va., where he developed an early interest in racing. While pursuing a career in telecommunications and consulting, he's been involved to varying degrees in horse ownership for about three decades.

Brandt had followed Rice's successful career as a trainer, but he had not met her until a horse sale a few years back in Ocala, Fla. They connected.

"I had all of my papers spread out and the catalogues, and I had yellow stickies and red stickies all over the horses' pages," he said. "And she just came up to me, and she said, 'Wow, you have a really complicated way of picking horses. â?¦ It's almost as complicated as mine.' ''

Kid Cruz (named after salsa dancing New York Giants' receiver Victor Cruz) is a son of Lemon Drop Kid, who as a long shot beat Charismatic in the 1999 Belmont Stakes to spoil Charismatic's bid for the Triple Crown.

Vina Del Mar Thoroughbreds purchased Kid Cruz for $50,000 after he won a maiden claiming race at Aqueduct in New York last November. The previous owner, Black Swan Stable, later bought back a share of Kid Cruz.

Brandt didn't tell his mother at first that he had acquired another horse. But in mid-January while visiting her, he got a call from Rice saying it would be "wise" to nominate Kid Cruz for the Triple Crown series.

"She (Rice) goes, 'It's only $600. We're taking a shot, but I think he might develop into that kind of horse,' '' said Brandt.

"So I told my mom, I said, 'Oh, by the way, we claimed a horse in November, and our trainer thinks he might be good enough to go around to one of the Triple Crown races.' And mother perked up, and she said, 'You're going, and you're going to win one.'

"That was the first time in the 30 years that I've ever owned a horse that she ever reacted that way. She would always say, 'Oh no, please tell me you didn't. Oh, you didn't put more money into racing.' and this one time she was completely different."

Brandt reached into the breast pocked of his sport coat and pulled out a pamphlet from his mother's funeral bearing her photo. He carries it to each race.

This year, Kid Cruz has three starts with two wins and a second place. His last race was April 19 at Pimlico, where he won the Federico Tesio Stakes. He had won earlier at Laurel Park in Maryland. The 20-1 morning-line long shot on Wednesday was down to 12-1 on race-day morning.

"When we won that first race, and the way we won that race was so powerful, I took this (pamphlet) with me and sat it on the table," said Brandt.

"And I thought, 'Well, wherever this horse is going, she's going with me.' So I keep it in my pocket and it will be sitting up there (for the Preakness) Saturday. And hopefully â?¦ "